Post by The X-Factor on Apr 5, 2009 14:15:07 GMT -5
It was their biggest show of the year. At first I was disappointed when I heard that U of A's Comedy Corner would not appear. They were there the first time I attended a Comedy Festival, and I've seen them in action before. However, after seeing the highly impressive display by ASU's Barren Mind, Farce Side, and New York's Pangea 3000, I didn't care anymore.
I think that this show worked for many reasons. One of which was the energy. No one seemed to lack it. Another reason was consistency. All three acts continually kept delivering the laughs and stayed at the top of their game. One big reason was originality. The show stayed fresh constantly, and Pangea 3000 was an example of that. I'll get to that in a sec.
“Farce Side”
As usual, they used their best material from the past. The “Shit Pants” scene was an example of their dark humor. “PowerPoint” was a little satirical. I mean, I don't think I'm ever gonna hear about a 'death by PowerPoint' on the news. It may seem ridiculous, but in sketch comedy, these things just work.
They added “Nipple Slip” to get the fans fired up, and “Angry Son” was there to remind us that Ty can be damn angry when he wants to be. “Scottsdale.” was the best way to end that segment.
"Pangea 3000"
As is always the case whenever an unknown troupe performs at the Festival, I don't know what to expect. I think back to the many different acts from over the years. Each of them had their own style, but I think this was the first time that a group from New York was here.
The first sketch, "Sneeze" (they gave me the setlist) was a religious parody. These guys are using a salad bowl filled with water to baptize someone, and the performance established that Pangea was going to be a very different act than we've ever seen.
The "Chicken Parm" sketch seemed simple. A doctor is just sitting there eating a sandwich, and he reveals that a patient has cancer. All he mainly does is sit there eating a sandwich. You would think that would be boring as hell, but strangely enough it wasn't. It got a good reaction.
The audio interludes in-between scenes - which were like an actual radio station playing Beatles songs - added another layer to the show.
I'm not a "Baseball" fan, nor am I pretending to be, but I loved the humor in that sketch. At times the comedy from them seemed surreal, like the "Phone Spinner" sketch, as well as the "Fartbound" scene (the psuedo-spelling bee which involved fart-like sounds). Their video sketch featured a guy walking home with lots of toilet paper, and three other guys in the street were busy making jokes. You can guess what that entailed. It had hints of observational comedy
All the while I was thinking, "how did they come up with this?" They're from New York. Of course their style will be different.
"Barren Mind' kept the flow going effectively. I don't have any complaints about them.
Usually I would rate each act, but this time I'm giving the entire show a single score.
10 out of 10.
I think that this show worked for many reasons. One of which was the energy. No one seemed to lack it. Another reason was consistency. All three acts continually kept delivering the laughs and stayed at the top of their game. One big reason was originality. The show stayed fresh constantly, and Pangea 3000 was an example of that. I'll get to that in a sec.
“Farce Side”
As usual, they used their best material from the past. The “Shit Pants” scene was an example of their dark humor. “PowerPoint” was a little satirical. I mean, I don't think I'm ever gonna hear about a 'death by PowerPoint' on the news. It may seem ridiculous, but in sketch comedy, these things just work.
They added “Nipple Slip” to get the fans fired up, and “Angry Son” was there to remind us that Ty can be damn angry when he wants to be. “Scottsdale.” was the best way to end that segment.
"Pangea 3000"
As is always the case whenever an unknown troupe performs at the Festival, I don't know what to expect. I think back to the many different acts from over the years. Each of them had their own style, but I think this was the first time that a group from New York was here.
The first sketch, "Sneeze" (they gave me the setlist) was a religious parody. These guys are using a salad bowl filled with water to baptize someone, and the performance established that Pangea was going to be a very different act than we've ever seen.
The "Chicken Parm" sketch seemed simple. A doctor is just sitting there eating a sandwich, and he reveals that a patient has cancer. All he mainly does is sit there eating a sandwich. You would think that would be boring as hell, but strangely enough it wasn't. It got a good reaction.
The audio interludes in-between scenes - which were like an actual radio station playing Beatles songs - added another layer to the show.
I'm not a "Baseball" fan, nor am I pretending to be, but I loved the humor in that sketch. At times the comedy from them seemed surreal, like the "Phone Spinner" sketch, as well as the "Fartbound" scene (the psuedo-spelling bee which involved fart-like sounds). Their video sketch featured a guy walking home with lots of toilet paper, and three other guys in the street were busy making jokes. You can guess what that entailed. It had hints of observational comedy
All the while I was thinking, "how did they come up with this?" They're from New York. Of course their style will be different.
"Barren Mind' kept the flow going effectively. I don't have any complaints about them.
Usually I would rate each act, but this time I'm giving the entire show a single score.
10 out of 10.